MRS. BUSH: Thank you, Secretary Kempthorne. Thank you for everything
you're doing to make sure all of our sacred icons, our historical sites, as
well as our beautiful national parks, our natural national parks are
protected.

I also want to thank Congressman Brad Miller from North Carolina and
Congressman Michael Turner from Ohio, who are the co-founders of the House
Preservation Caucus. Thank you both very, very much. (Applause.)

Lynn Scarlett, the Deputy Secretary, Department of Interior; John Nau,
Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; Mary Bomar, the
Director of the National Park Service; Dick Moe, the President of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation -- thank you all very much for
joining us today. (Applause.)

Members of Congress who are here, congressional staff, state and local
officials, historians, preservationists, distinguished guests -- thank you
all very much for coming, and thank you for your interest in our wonderful
country.

Yesterday, our country lost one of its most dedicated advocates for natural
and historic preservation: Lady Bird Johnson. As we remember her love of
America's environment and history, it's appropriate that we're meeting here
in the Cannon Office Building -- where her husband spent his early days in
politics. And we're here today to talk about what each of us can do to
build on their legacy of preservation.

Next year, this building, the Cannon Office Building, the first
congressional office building, which is what it is, will celebrate its
100th anniversary. Here in this office building, in the Cannon Building,
at least four future Presidents started out as Congressmen: Congressmen
John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, and Gerald Ford.

The Cannon Building has also hosted its share of colorful stories. During
Prohibition, the building had its own bootlegger -- (laughter) -- George
Cassiday, who was known simply as "the man in the green hat." From the
Cannon basement, Cassiday made regular deliveries to his House customers.
(Laughter.)

In communities across the United States, structures like the Cannon
Building stand as testaments to our nation's history. Monuments, national
parks, and museum collections preserve the treasures of our environment and
our culture. President Bush and I believe that all of us have the
obligation to protect these resources, and to make sure that they can be
enjoyed by many, many generations to come.

In 2003, President Bush launched the Preserve America Initiative to promote
cultural and natural preservation, and to encourage a greater appreciation
of our heritage. The goals of the initiative include a greater shared
knowledge of our nation's past, strengthened regional identities and pride,
increased local participation in preserving our country's cultural and
natural resources, and support for the economic vitality of our
communities.

Since President Bush announced the initiative, we've honored 16 outstanding
preservation projects with Preserve America Preservation Awards. For the
last three years, Preserve America has recognized a History Teacher of the
Year, encouraging the excellent teachers who inspire their students' love
of history by making history come alive in the classroom.

Last October, a Preserve America Summit was held in New Orleans to mark the
40th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Act was
signed by President Johnson in 1966, and launched the first coordinated
federal effort to safeguard our country's heritage. At the Preserve
America Summit, we took stock of the strides we've made over the last four
decades, and we learned what businesses and foundations, educational
institutions, governments and private citizens can do to modernize our
preservation efforts so that they'll be more effective for the future.

One of Preserve America's most significant contributions has been its
support for communities that make historic preservation a top priority.
Over the last four years, more than 640 cities and towns have applied to
become Preserve America communities and neighborhoods; 501 communities have
received this designation. They're located in 233 congressional districts
-- that's a House majority. (Laughter.) Thirty-four of these communities
are being announced today, and with the addition of Plattsmouth, Nebraska,
Preserve America communities have now spread to every single state.
(Applause.)

With this designation, Preserve America recognizes communities that use
their historic assets to educate visitors and local residents about their
town's important links to our nation's past. One of the communities we're
announcing today is Lafayette, Louisiana -- named for the Marquis de
Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution.

When I was in France this January, I visited Ch teau La Grange, where
Lafayette spent 30 years of his life. There, I saw the dictionary that
Lafayette used on his first visit to the United States, and his personal
copy of the Declaration of Independence. I saw the codes used between
Lafayette and George Washington, and the small American flag that Lafayette
took with him to prison, after he was arrested for his role in the French
Revolution.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Lafayette's birth -- and with help
from its new Preserve America status, Lafayette, Louisiana, is staging a
year-long celebration to honor its city's ties to one of America's first
and closest allies. Bridget Boustany, the wife of Representative Charles
Boustany, from Lafayette, is with us today. Where's Bridget? (Applause.)

Some Preserve America communities are using their historic properties to
bring whole cities and towns back to life. One community we're recognizing
today is Easton, Pennsylvania. You may be interested to know Easton
probably has a link to your own early history: It was in Easton that
cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith founded a business to manufacture
slate school pencils. They expanded their line of products, and the first
box of Binney & Smith Crayons -- containing seven colors -- was produced in
1903, and sold for a nickel.

Binney & Smith Crayons are now known by a different name -- Crayolas -- and
since 1903, they've allowed children to express themselves in more than 400
different colors -- including, I'm sure, every one of us in this room.

In the 1820s, Easton was a bustling canal town, with flourishing tanneries,
distilleries, and flour mills. But when the town's industries fell into
decline, Easton's downtown went with them. Now a different industry has
brought this city back to life: Heritage tourism is showcasing Easton's
rich past, which dates back to the Revolutionary War era.

Today, residents of Easton celebrate Heritage Day every July, when they
re-create one of the first and only public readings of the Declaration of
Independence, which took place in Easton on July 8, 1776. Eastoners have
formed a Historic District Commission, which protects the town's historic
architecture. The Crayola Factory is now a museum, and part of Easton's
revived downtown -- which attracts more than 300,000 tourists every year.

One of the benefits of becoming a Preserve America community is eligibility
to apply for a Preserve America grant. With support from Congress, the
Department of the Interior has awarded $10 million in matching grants to
communities and outstanding preservation projects. President Bush has
proposed another $10 million for Preserve America grants this year, and I
ask you to support this important program.

We're awarding $2.6 million in Preserve America grants today. Many of the
recipients are represented here, and congratulations to each of you. These
resources will help communities from Vermont to Hawaii share their
treasures with visitors from the rest of our nation. They'll also be used
to educate and instill a sense of pride in area residents. Just a few
months ago, I visited Bridgeport, Connecticut, which is one of today's
Preserve America grant initiatives.

Like Easton, Bridgeport was once a thriving center of industry, but it
struggled in the decades since its manufacturers closed. Today, that city
is on the rebound, and much of Bridgeport's economic development is tied to
the city's rich history and culture.

One of Bridgeport's challenges, though, is to get the outside world, and
its own residents, excited about the city's cultural renewal. In November
2005, Bridgeport was designated a Preserve America community -- and today,
the city is receiving a $75,000 Preserve America grant to promote its
historic resources.

Billboards and posters will advertise Bridgeport's cultural icons -- like
the Bijou Theater, and the colorful P.T. Barnum Museum, which I visited in
April. The city will produce maps for walking tours, which will guide
visitors and Bridgeporters alike to historical collections at the
Bridgeport Public Library, and through city parks designed by Frederick Law
Olmstead. A virtual walking tour will be re-created online, on a new
website that the city historian, Mary Witkowski, says will "send the word
out to the far corners of the world that Bridgeport history is still alive
and well, and worth finding out about." I think Bridgeport's mayor, John
Fabrizi, and Representative Chris Shays are here in the audience with us.
Thank you all for coming. (Applause.)

In communities across the United States, federal preservation efforts are
restoring citizens' pride in their communities, and safeguarding our
national treasures. I'm delighted to announce that President Bush has sent
proposed legislation to Congress that will authorize two very important
preservation initiatives: Preserve America, and Save America's Treasures.
With support from the federal government, and through the generosity of
private citizens, Save America's Treasures has awarded more than $313
million* to preservation projects in all 50 states.

These grants have protected the icons of America's past -- from the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, to the first airplane the
Wright Brothers kept aloft in Ohio.

Preserve America and Save America's Treasures complement each other. Save
America's Treasures provides grants to help rescue individual landmarks,
and Preserve America encourages citizens to improve access to their local
treasures for the benefit of all Americans.

President Bush and I appreciate the broad, bipartisan support from Congress
-- that Congress has shown for both of these initiatives. This new
proposed act -- the "Preserve America and Save America's Treasures Act" --
will improve our government's ability to protect America's historic places,
objects, and collections for many years to come. President Bush and I
thank you for your interest in this important work.

And we thank each one of you for the work you're doing to protect our
nation's history and culture. Whether you're carefully cataloguing your
town's cultural artifacts, or supporting our government's preservation work
here on Capitol Hill, you're making sure future generations can enjoy the
natural and historical treasures of their communities, and of our nation's.

Now I'd like to introduce someone who's at the forefront of these efforts:
Ladies and gentlemen, the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, John Nau.